Regional One Health is home to the oldest hospital in Tennessee, chartered in 1829. Throughout its more than 180-year history, the acute care hospital has evolved significantly, housing a children’s hospital, tuberculosis hospital, military hospital, maternity hospital and ultimately the Regional Medical Center, which is home to nationally recognized Centers of Excellence and a commitment to providing quality healthcare to all citizens of the Mid-South.

Timeline

  • 1829 – A bill was introduced in the Tennessee Legislature by Shelby County Senator Adam Huntsman to appropriate funds for the opening of what would be called the Memphis Hospital.
  • 1830 – $3,300 was appropriated to enable the Memphis Hospital to open its doors. The hospital’s original purpose was to contain the spread of disease from hundreds of sick travelers coming into the city of Memphis via the Mississippi River.
  • 1832 – 1835 – The cholera epidemics convinced both the city and state to expand the Memphis Hospital’s services by providing a more modern facility and establishing a new medical education component.
  • 1862 – During the Civil War, the Memphis Hospital was transformed into a military hospital operated by the federal government.
  • 1866 – Governance of the Memphis Hospital was returned to the state of Tennessee after the Civil War ended. The Tennessee legislature did not appropriate money in support of the hospital, and therefore granted title to the City of Memphis. What would then be known as the Memphis City Hospital was supported by a special tax that yielded about $11,000 annually.
  • 1883-1885 – The hospital averaged 80 patients per day with a per capita cost of 32.5 cents per day.
  • 1929 – Mrs. Theresa Gaston Mann, who would be the hospital’s most significant benefactor to date, passed away, leaving more than $300,000 to the Memphis City Hospital in addition to the Gaston home and furnishings. Her contribution was made in memory of her former husband, John Gaston.
  • 1936 – With the Gaston inheritance, $300,000 from the city, $100,000 from the county, and a grant from the Public Works Administration, the Memphis City Hospital generated $800,000.
  • 1936 – Dedication of the new John Gaston Hospital.
  • 1956 – The E.H. Crump Hospital was constructed for the purpose of serving African-American patients.
  • 1968 – The Newborn Center opened its doors with a focus on reducing the infant mortality rate of African-Americans.
  • 1983 – The hospital was officially renamed the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, or The MED. The Elvis Presley Trauma Center also opened November 10th of this year.
  • 1985 – The Burn Center opened.
  • 1992 – The Wound Center opened for the treatment of chronic and non-healing wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, failing skin grafts and infected amputations.
  • 1993 – The Burn Center was dedicated as the Firefighters Burn Center and moved to its new home – Jesse Turner Tower. It is the only full-service burn center in a 150-mile radius of Memphis.
  • 1994 – The MEDPlex Ambulatory Care Center opened to replace the aging Gailor Clinic as the hospital’s outpatient treatment facility. Patients gained access to physicians in 40 areas of specialty and sub-specialty care.
  • 1999 – Regional Medical Center at Memphis, in concurrence with the Shelby County Health Department agreed to manage six health department primary care clinics along with four hospital-owned community based clinics, creating a primary care network known as the Health Loop.
  • 2001 – The Mobile Wound Service was added to the Wound Center as a mobile clinic to serve patients on location in nursing homes.
  • 2003 – The Rehabilitation Hospital of Memphis opened its doors to fill the need of post-acute care for trauma, burn and stroke patients.
  • 2004 – The Newborn Center was dedicated as the Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center, after its founder and medical director.
  • 2010 – Regional Medical Center opened a dedicated orthopedic inpatient unit to total joint replacement patients.
  • 2012 – The Vascular Institute at Regional Medical Center was opened.
  • 2013 – Firefighters Burn Center earns verification from the American Burn Association and American College of Surgeons, making it the only burn center in the region to earn these honors.
  • 2014 – The system identity Regional One Health was launched, introducing the community to the family of services offered including the acute care hospital Regional Medical Center, an extended care hospital, rehabilitation hospital, outpatient surgery center and more.
  • 2015 – Regional One Health opened a new outpatient campus in east Memphis.
  • 2015 – Regional One Health expands its primary care network with Harbor of Health, a practice in the Harbor Town neighborhood located off downtown Memphis.
  • 2016 – Regional One Health launches its Center for Innovation, which seeks to build a health care ecosystem of innovators and entrepreneurs by providing a platform to inspire, align and cultivate new ideas, research and technology.
  • 2016 – Regional One Health Foundation holds the inaugural ONE Round Classic golf tournament to benefit the health care system. It joins the ONE Night Gala as major annual fundraisers.
  • 2018 – The Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center celebrates its 50-year anniversary by welcoming NICU graduates to an event held in their honor.
  • 2018 – Primary care services expand as Regional One Health adds the Primary Care Specialists practice located on Walnut Grove Road in East Memphis.
  • 2018 – The ONE Health complex care initiative debuts to provide support for qualified uninsured patients with frequent Emergency Department visits and inpatient stays. The population health program addresses both medical needs and social determinants of health.
  • 2019 – Regional One Health Outpatient Pharmacy expands services by partnering with Cash Saver grocery store to add a location near the South Third Primary Care practice.
  • 2020 – Health care system introduces Specializing in Tomorrows campaign to highlight the lifesaving, life-changing care that Regional One Health provides for the community.
  • 2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic impacts Regional One Health and the medical community as a whole. The health care system develops a dedicated COVID-19 unit to care for patients, contributes to research into coronavirus therapies, and establishes a specialized clinic for treating long-COVID patients.
  • 2021 – Focused Ultrasound, a non-surgical procedure to treat hand tremors caused by essential tremor, is added at the East Campus Imaging Center.
  • 2021 – Regional One Health introduces an oncology service led by national experts in a variety of cancer diagnoses. The service, known as Regional One Health Cancer Care, partners with University of Tennessee Health Science Center medical, surgical and radiation oncologists to make world-class oncology care accessible to patients throughout the Mid-South.
  • 2022 – Regional One Health Foundation introduces the ONE Mile Championship, Memphis’ first one-mile road race. The event, held on the Regional One Health campus, joins the ONE Night Gala and the ONE Round Classic as major fundraisers for the hospital.
  • 2023 – The Shelby County Commission, led by Mayor Lee Harris, approves a wheel tax to serve as a funding stream for the ONE Campus initiative to rebuild and expand Regional One Health. ONE Campus is designed to turn Regional One Health into a premier academic medical center.
  • 2023 – Regional One Health launches Regional One Health Solutions, LLC, which combines technical support and health care expertise to help other health care organizations with digital technology implementation and data visualization.